_The season of favor for anointing(Part 1of 3)2-Kings 2:1-15The Bible says that the anointing breaks the yoke according to Isaiah 10:27And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.Therefore, the anointing leads us to understand that the greatest among us is a servant. The Hebrew word anointed is ‘maw-shakh' and means, to smear, spread, stroke with the hand, as consecration, solemn setting apart to an office or consecrate to religious service, or the"chosen one."The Bible says that Jesus Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit to spread the Good News and free those who have been held captive by sin according to Luke 4:18-19.And the wordanointingin Greek is‘khris'-mah’ and means, unction, God inwardly persuading the believer of His preferences, the special endowment of the Holy Spirit or to rub with oil.Therefore, when someone is anointed, it means that they are a chosen one and is chosen for a specific task.But when someone has the anointing it means that they have the gift of the anointing resting upon their life.You can have the anointing upon your life and not be anointed to do a specific work but only to work in the kingdom of God, in 1 John 2:20But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.Understand that it is only God that can anoint a person for a specific purpose.If we use oil, it is only a symbol of what God is doing.After Christ left ascended into Heaven, He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit according to John 14:16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever. It’s the anointing we need in this time to function properly in our gift and calling.The anointing upon our lives will help us to release others from bondage, heartache, distress and /or heavy place of captivity.Therefore, we all have the anointing but not all of us are anointed.To be anointed by God is not only to be picked, but also to be empowered by Him for the task or position to which He has called you. Origin of AnointingThe anointing originated was from a practice of shepherds. Lice and other insects would often get into the wool of sheep, and when they got near the sheep's head, they could burrow into the sheep's ears and kill the sheep. So, ancient shepherds poured oil on the sheep's head. This made the wool slippery, making it impossible for insects to get near the sheep's ears because they would just slide off. From this, anointing became symbolic of blessing, protection, and empowerment.Even so, in Biblical times, people were anointed with oil to signify God’s blessing or call on their lives for example Aaron was anointed when he was selected to be a minister in Exodus 29:7 and the things in the tabernacle were anointed in Exodus 40:9.A person was anointed for a special purpose—to be a king, to be a prophet or to be a builder.Like Kathryn Kuhlman Aimee Semple McPherson:

Kathryn Kuhlmanwas an American faith healer and evangelist who traveled extensively in the United States and in many other countries, holding "healing crusades" between the 1940s and 1970s. She had a weekly TV program in the 1960s and 1970s called I Believe In Miracles that was aired nationally

And Aimee Semple McPherson, was a Canadian-American. She was a pioneer in the use of modern media, especially radio, and was the second woman to be granted a broadcast license.She was one of the first female evangelists, the first divorced evangelist, and the founder of the Foursquare Gospel church)

Anointing can only be effective in the kingdom of God, if, and only if, we allow it to be prominent in our lives.Some of us are not aware of the anointing on us, but others will notice.Keep in mind that it is God who gives the anointing so we can do the things we can't do on our own, such as preach, hold forth the Word of life, pray for deliverance, shine forth in godly character and do the work of Christ with compassion. The anointing impregnates us with the living Word, the incorruptible seed that gives life, so that we can give life to others.Understand that the anointing can and should be released, and releasing the anointing of God is done so that people will be blessed and God will be glorified.And we see a transfer of anointing here in this text. The events of this chapter are related in chronological order, because here is where we see the concluding of the ministry of Elijah in chapter 1, and we are now about to go in 2 Kings 2-3 to the ministry of Elisha.This is not the final scene of Elijah's life.

So it is in this text we find that the story is extraordinary because it introduced Elijah and Elisha very early in the text and:

Elijah who’s name mean "Yahweh is my God" came from Tishbeh in Gilead, but nothing is known of his family or his birth. We first see Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1 where he suddenly appears to challenge Ahab, an evil king who ruled the Northern Kingdom from 874 to 853 B.C.

And Elishawhose name means “God is salvation,” was the successor of Elijah in the office of the prophet in Israel.He spent the next 7 or 8 years as the prophet’s protégé, until Elijah was translated into heaven where he then began his ministry, which lasted 60 years (c. 892-832 B.C.)Now here in the text we see that the prophet Elijah knows that his time left on earth is short so he told Elisha that he was leaving Gilgal to go to Bethel and Gilgal means, "circle of stones".And Beth-el means “house of God,"When Elijah told Elisha that he was leaving and that he should tarry in Gilgal, Elisha refused to stay, (Gilgal to Bethel is about 8 and half miles). Elisha was going to Beth-el because there was one of the “schools of the prophet” according to verse 3. The prophets there were aware of what will be happening on this day about Elijah being taken up to Heaven in the whirlwind. And Elisha was also aware of this himself.Understand that the school of the prophet was started by the prophet Samuel in Gilgal, an institution called the “school of the prophets”, which trained men who were called to be prophets, in speaking for God according to 1-Samuel 10:5-8, & 1-Samuel 19:20.In Elijah’s day, Elijah became the head of these “schools” and he started the other schools of the prophet which he founded at Beth-el, Jericho and Jordan.In these places were the headquarters of the calf-worshipers.Nonetheless, after Elijah left earth, he was recognized as the leader of the prophets.Now it was after they finished at Beth-el that they then moved to Jordon and again the second time in verse 4 that Elijah told Elisha not to come with him as he go to Jericho and from Jericho to Jordan.When he was about to leave Jericho he told Elisha for the third time to tarry here in verse 6.He left Jericho to Jordan which is 5 miles apart.

Jericho means, "City of Palm Trees"

And Jordan means, a descender or flowing down.

Going to Jordan was the third time Elijah told Elisha to stay behind or tarry. But Elisha wasn’t in agreement with that.Understand that all these cities; including Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and Jordan had the schools of the prophet was led by Elijah.As I look at the trend of Elijah and Elisha we can receive the anointing that God is releasing in this season by several things.

We will continue with the several things that the anointing release in next week’s lesson.